Author's Note: This is important; this story is not HBP or DH compatible (or OotP, but you probably figured that out already). I may have heard a few spoilers but I will try not to let them sneak in because it would be just to confusing.

Author's Thanks:
Village-Mystic: I'm glad that you are still enjoying. If you don't my asking, where does the writing get really confusing? (May be I can edit it and make it flow better.) Thank you. Glad you liked that, I think Will would treat them as equals. Pretty sure it's a coincidence, may change, though. I'm not sure there will be any pairing off in this story b/c I'm not sure it'll work, will that be all right?
Mooney's Mate: I'm glad. Hope you enjoy this part to. Things are actually picking up now-and taking shape.

777

Buffy and Willow walked the path up to the stairs at the front of Sunnydale High School, deep in discussion. Well, it was more like Buffy was in deep rant while Willow listened to her attentively. "Is he always that uptight? Professor Snape makes the Watcher's Council look like a bunch of wild party animals," she finished with a semi-flourish.

"Oh, he's not so bad once you get to know him. He's got a lot of things to be stressed over."

"Like what?"

"The students. Teaching me. The werewolves. I only pluralized that because Oz has asked for his help, something about a potion. The Hellmouth and the possible repercussions it may have on the students' health, both mental and physical. Sirius Black and keeping his secret safe," she paused a moment to look at her friend in inquiry. When Buffy shook her head, showing that the time wasn't right, she continued to list why Snape had reasons for his behavior. "There's this Voldemort guy. And the headmaster doesn't seem to mind laying quite a heavy burden upon his shoulders what with protecting me and Harry."

"Still, that doesn't give him the right to treat you the way he did. Honestly, one would think he'd never seen in a water fight before. And we can help protect you from this ol' Voldierots guy."

"I know that, Buffy. But, even though he is a wizard, he and his followers are human. There isn't much you can do about that. And, from all Professor Lupin has told me, I don't think he has been allowed to have any fun like that. Professor Snape has always been a recalcitrant person," she said. "Oh, look, library. And there's Giles. Wonder why he's staring at you like that."

"Probably to tell me what happened with mom," Buffy sighed. "What's the what, Giles?"

Instead of answering, he turned and walked into his office. Shrugging, Buffy and Willow followed, the later closing the door behind them. Following Buffy's lead, Willow remained standing until they had both been invited to sit down. "Shouldn't we wait for Xander?" The door opened and she glanced back, "Never mind."

"Oh, Will," he mocked sighed, "feel my pain at being so unappreciated." He sat down on the arm of her chair and looked at her expectantly.

Shaking her head, she smiled. "Oh, I can feel it-coming from your stomach."

"Where else?"

Giles cleared his throat, "We have a problem."

"Mom knows," Buffy said flatly, looking down at the floor for a moment. Her face was flushed with anger and embarrassment. After all they had done to save the world and do her duty, after all the secrets she had kept, to have it revealed like this was upsetting to her. This was a situation that she never thought she'd find herself in and she didn't like it. If her mom had discovered because Buffy had done something to save her life or someone else's in front of her, she could've accepted it.

But this way was just too anti-climactic.

"What?" Xander gaped at them, eyes wide. "When did this happen? Why?"

"Mrs. Summers doesn't know," Giles firmly said. "About Buffy being the Slayer that is. She does, however, know that Willow isn't living in her house any longer. That she has, in fact, been living in a house at the edge of town with three unmarried men-with no female to chaperone her. That Buffy has spent quite a few nights there as well."

"That's not true!" Willow objected, flushing angrily. "Not entirely, I mean, just last night."

"I know," Giles soothed before she got worked up. "I informed her that you were staying with a group of kids and their teachers from England. She wants to meet them-immediately. I rather imagine that she does not believe me that they are honorable people."

Willow groaned and hid her head in her arms for a moment, Xander sympathetically rested a hand on her shoulder and patted it. "Great," she mumbled. "Professor Snape is not going to be pleased with this and she can't meet Mr. Black or Professor Lupin, it's the full moon tonight. He's not exactly in the best of moods right now, what with the wolf being so close to the surface."

Closing his eyes, he nodded that he heard her. "It doesn't matter. Mrs. Summers could cause quite a lot of trouble for them and for you. You need to continue this training, especially if this Voldemort is after you with the mistaken idea that you are this Lily Potter."

"So, she wasn't mad at me?"

"Buffy, she is furious that you did not tell her about this. I do not believe that I have ever seen your mother so livid," he said, trying to be patient. "She is enraged that I put the two of you into such a position that compromises your reputation and her continued guardianship of you."

The Slayer winced at the pointed reminder. Ever since her father had gotten engaged to that woman-and, contrary to popular opinion, she had tried to like her, she really had. But something about her grated on her nerves. And she had been pushing her father to gain sole custody of her, to which he had agreed and was avidly pursuing at the moment. Citing several factors as justification for him to take her to live with him, using her previous behavior in school as one of them.

The situation at home was tense, made all the more so by the fact that neither of her parents listened to a word she said. Her heart twisted at the thought of going home to face it. "I don't suppose you convinced her that it just slipped my mind," she half-asked, wanting to know that the situation was being handled even as they spoke about it. She wasn't sure she knew what to do and didn't want to handle it if she didn't have. In fact, this was one of the few situations in which she was content to let Giles take care of things.

"Buffy," he leaned forward, staring at her, knowing what she was thinking. "It should not be my job to convince your mother of anything. She is your mother and your responsibility."

A knock on the door forestalled anything she had to say and he got up, "Yes?"

"Mr. Giles? I am Professor Minerva McGonagall," a cool, lightly accented voice announced. Turning around, they saw a woman standing in the doorway, looking slightly uncomfortable in the clothes she wore. It was quite obvious that they were not a style she wore very often. Her eyes were kind, though her face bore a stern look. She definitely had the look of a woman not to be trifled with. "I wish to see Miss. Rosenberg and was informed that I would find her here by the most disagreeable toad it has ever been my displeasure to meet."

"That would be Principal Snyder," he told her. Turning around, he looked questioningly at Willow, who shrugged that she didn't know who this woman was.

"Did I mention that I am the Assistant Headmistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she stated calmly.

"Oh, please come in." Giles stepped aside, gesturing for her to pass him.

"Thank you," she nodded her head and glanced at the occupants. When her gaze fell upon the green-eyed girl, she knew that she had found her. "Miss. Rosenberg? Professor Snape asked me to teach you the process of Transfiguration. He has informed me that you have some basic understanding of what it is. That is not good enough for me, so you will start at the beginning, as all students do. Our lessons will begin directly after your final class for the day in this…school of yours."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Willow supposed that she should be more upset by the way her life had been totally and completely taken over by these professors from a school she'd most likely never see in person. But with all the chaos that was stirring around her and the others, she just didn't feel the energy to worry over it. Not to mention, she was awfully curious about these things herself, so it was no hardship to surrender her life to those more qualified to deal with all she was.

"Excuse me, Professor?" When she faced him, a question on her face, Giles asked her. "Will you be staying at the mansion for these lessons?"

"No," she answered shortly before elaborating, though it was really no business of his. "Though I will be staying there for a few days until we can come up with an equitable schedule that works best for all of us. I have other duties to attend to. Why do you ask, Mr. Giles?"

"We have run into a slight problem with Mrs. Summers. She could create some problems for everyone because Willow is living with the professors, without a female chaperone," he told her, feeling that she might be the best person to deal with. As Willow had pointed out, the professors were rather caught up in the students they already had to deal with. Professor Lupin also had to deal with the werewolf within him.

Black was out, for obvious reasons. Even though they were in America, they had been warned of the convict by the Ministry of Magic. And, while he did not look like his pictures anymore, there was still a faint trace of it in his face than any artist would pick up on. "While she is not Willow's mother, they are friends and if it was generally known that Willow is staying in a house with only male guardians…"

"Say no more," she held up her hand, silencing him. "I will meet with her, reassure her that there is nothing untoward going on. I suppose that she is not an unreasonable woman."

Giles breathed a sigh of relief, shaking his head. "Mrs. Summers is a very reasonable woman. We would greatly appreciate any help you can give us, thank you."

777

Draco sat by the window and waited, rather impatiently, for his owl to return. Resting his hand on the warm windowpane, he allowed his thoughts to drift all over the place. To let it tread in places he often avoided for the sake of his own peace of mind. His mind was often a dark and scary place to be in, even for him. What he knew, even if no one else accepted it about him, was that the darkness was more than just an idea. It was a living creature inside his heart. It burned and writhed to be free from the constraints he placed upon it.

Inside, that knot of worry and pain ate away at him. His mother never wrote to him unless it was important but what could have happened to her while he was here, away from the troubles caused by the Dark Lord's return? Lord Voldemort couldn't possibly be displeased with his father because he was not at Hogwarts. Lucius Malfoy was one of his most devoted and faithful followers.

Gladly would his father have said that he was a follower of him and gone to Azkaban. Yet it was not to be, for his Lord had wanted him to follow another path if the unthinkable happened to him. So, he did as asked and followed his Lord's orders to stay out of Azkaban, to remain in the public arena.

Well, he paused to think for a moment, there had been that incident with Riddle's journal. Though it had nothing to do with him directly, he well remembered his father's worry over it when Voldemort returned. Yet, he hadn't seemed to be that displeased by what had happened to the book. Even if he had changed his mind, what did that have to do with him?

Why had she written to him? Was she ill and needed him to come home immediately to take care of her? Was it his father? What was going on back at home? Inside, the tight knot of worry unraveled and became a mass of corrosive worries that plagued him mind and ate away his confidence.

"Draco, come to class."

"In a minute," he waved off his professor, somewhat disdainfully.

"Now," Professor Snape's voice brooked no argument and he watched as Draco turned away and followed him out of the room, reluctantly. Narcissa, he thought, half angrily, what piece of stupidity have you done now? And what must I do to clean up after this mess?

777

"My lord?" Lucius asked tentatively. He had just seen Mayor Wilkins out and returned to his normal position at the foot of the throne. Something had been troubling him for days and he had finally decided to bring it up with his Lord. The worst his Lord could do was torture him, and he had already done so.

Repeatedly.

Gathering his courage, he asked him. "If it pleases you, my lord, may I ask a question of you?"

"Yes?" he asked, feeling slightly generous with this servant of his. Really, he thought idly, I should probably work on ridding myself of that tendency. But, for the moment, it pleased him to be generous to his followers. To allow them some kind of autonomy from him, it encouraged them to give him the best they had to offer his cause.

A cause that had become theirs for it appealed to their baser instincts.

Knowing of the gift he'd been granted, Lucius wasted no time in fumbling over his words. It was not prudent to tempt the Dark Lord, even if he seemed to be in a generous mood. "Is it wise to work with the Mayor of Sunnydale? I mean, he has his own plans. What is to say that once he ascends and becomes this true demon he desires, he will not turn on you?"

Voldemort's eyes gleamed in the dim light as they focused on him. The kneeling follower felt a shiver creep all the way through him at the look. "An excellent question, Lucius. It is nice to know that you have not lost all of you vaunted wit," he sneered. "How do I know that he will not betray me once he attains his goal. Quite simple really, he will become a snake. And, demon or not, he will obey the voice and will of Slytherin's One True Heir, myself."

"Brilliant, my lord." Privately, he wondered if it really was all that brilliant. What if the Mayor suspected and found a way to protect himself from Voldemort's voice? Yet, he did not question him on this. It was not his way to point out that there may be a flaw in his Lord's idea. He valued his skin too much to take that chance.

After all, he was no Severus Snape.

"It will be up to you and that silken tongue of yours to keep him from finding out that I have the power to control him," Voldemort informed him coolly, as though offering him a great gift. In truth, he was giving him a gift-with a double edge. This was also a test to see where, exactly, the loyalty of this servant of his lay.

Far too often in the past two years, Lucius had done things that caused him to question his loyalty and devotion. His recalcitrant behavior in bringing his son to the meeting was the final one that Voldemort could not take. He would know where his loyalty lay. Then he would reward him with more trust or with death.

It really all depended upon Lucius.

"Me, my lord?" he asked, surprised. He shouldn't have been. It was no secret that Voldemort had been doubting him lately. He resolved to do better for his Lord, to be a better servant to him-or die with his honor in tact.

"Yes, you. This is a task that I cannot give to Severus. He must continue to protect the Potter boy until I am ready to humiliate him. To destroy him as I destroyed his worthless parents and all those who dare oppose me. You can manage this one, simple task, right?"

Lucius bowed his head, hearing the rebuke and hiding the flush that crossed his pale face. "Of course, my lord. Mayor Wilkins may be slightly more intelligent than Minister Fudge but he is a politician. The breed is not that difficult to manage once you have discovered their weaknesses and one of his happens to be his fastidiousness. I can work with that."

"See that you do. I would hate to lose such an asset as yourself but will find it no small thing to replace you with another."

The warning was clear. "I will not fail you, my lord."

777

Severus sat in his study, a book is his lap and his head resting on his hand. His eyes were half-closed in thought as he contemplated the problem before him. Once he and Professor McGonagall had talked to Mrs. Summers, they had also agreed to see her husband and reassure him that all was well.

The potions master found him to be a tedious man, more bluster than actual strength of character but necessary if they were to continue to learn here unobserved. Though a normal muggle man, he had the strength of mind to see things through to the end, bitter and unpleasant though that end may be. A determination that would spell disaster for them all if he set his mind to it.

His fiancée was no different than he, seeking only her own wishes in things. Severus found that there was something off about her. He could see why Buffy was not fond of the woman. There was something unsettling about her, though she was definitely a human being. His lips quirked at the thought that she wasn't much of a human if she couldn't encourage her man to actually listen to what his daughter wanted out of life.

Honestly, all of these maneuvers among the muggles were utterly fatiguing. If not for his promise to the Headmaster and his insatiable curiosity, he would have bid them all a farewell ages ago.

"Severus."

Turning his head towards the door, he nodded at Sirius Black, a contemptuous sneer on his lips. "Seen your pet wolf down for the night?"

"Remus," he emphasized the name, "is safe for the night. Do you think it wise to have this Oz with him? Won't one try to dominate the other?"

"They will come to no harm being together. It may, in fact, help soothe the werewolf in Lupin to feel the presence of one of his own kind. Offense meant to your animagus form intended," he added.

Entering the room, he sat down in the chair and stared at the potions master whose face was partially hidden in shadow. Sirius got the feeling that Severus liked it that way best, one could never be sure he was focused on them. It was…unnerving. "Does it never get tiring?"

"What? Being in your company?"

"Being a loathsome git," his reply was only slightly strained.

"Why try to mess with the nature I've been given?" he retorted.

"Oh, I don't know. Because both Lily and Harry see something worthy in you."

With a sigh, he looked out the window. It made sense that Black would bring her into the equation and also reveal that he saw the connection between him and Harry. Thankfully, it seemed that he was going to be civilized about it.

For the moment, he thought ruefully. "Yes, they both have a disturbing sense of myopic optimism about my humanity. Let me assure you, Black, I have none."

"While I hate you, Severus, I find that I can't agree with that opinion. Your half-sister may have been many things but a bad judge of character, she was not. You have some humanity within you. Not much, that I will grant you," he conceded, seeing Snape open his mouth to object. "But some."

"How kind of you," he dryly said.

"Not kind at all," he retorted, stung by the idea that he would be kind to the Slytherin git. It wasn't kindness that made him speak those words, it was a new sense of maturity when dealing with the potions professor. "Just seeing you through new eyes."

And is that supposed to be a good thing? Severus wondered but said nothing, there was no point in getting into a fight. Weariness settled upon him and he felt all too aware of the heavy burden placed upon all their shoulders.

"So, what is up with this Willow chit? I get that Buffy is the Slayer, she proved that only to well a few nights ago. But Willow's no common witch, is she?"

"No. She is not," he replied, annoyed by the mutt's obvious desire to talk to him. "Willow is an ambient mage."

Sirius whistled.

"Indeed."

"Shouldn't she be at Hogwarts?"

An eyebrow rose in question at the query, making Sirius feel foolish. "You've been exposed to her over the course of the past few days. Do you really think that she would leave her friends behind in this dark, forsaken place to learn in safety?" Holding up a finger, he silenced the man before he could speak one word. "Black, be honest. Based on what you've learned, do you see her leaving?"

Shooting him a look, he answered. "She's very loyal to her friends and brave. How Hufflepuff of her."

"There's no cause to be insulting, Black."

He laughed, surprised to find there was no bitterness in the sound. It was almost as if, in seeing his old enemy in a new way, he could let go of their rivalry. Just not completely, he thought as he stared at his old enemy. I wouldn't want to give up one of the few pleasures I have left in my life. "I knew you were going to say that."

"Of course you did," Severus said these words with the air of someone who supposed he should be grateful for small favors. "So, you will not try to do anything to me because of your godson's rather unfortunate affliction in seeing me in a positive light?"

"While I cannot say that I am overjoyed with the prospect of my godson seeing you positively or as a father figure, I will not interfere with it. You are, after all, the boy's uncle."

"So you keep pointing out," he sarcastically interrupted him.

"I suppose that gives you some rights to be his parent figure," he continued as though Severus hadn't said a word.

"Something you are incapable of currently given your status as fugitive-and mental state being closer to his," he pointed out.

"Do you never get tired of baiting me?"

"Do you?" he countered him easily, to which there was no reply for the answer was all too obvious.

End, Part 12.

Note #2: Buffy's mom ran (runs?) an art shop. I figure that means she has the discerning eye of an artist. Anyone mind that? Also, does anyone mind the Lily & Severus twist?